Middle East & North Africa

01 Nov 2022; MEMO: The Palestinian Authority ratified a framework agreement yesterday to develop the Gaza Marine gas field with Egyptian companies.

"We have ratified the framework agreement for the [Gaza Marine] gas field concluded between the Palestinian Investment Fund and the consortium of Egyptian investment companies," explained the PA. "The subsequent detailed agreements will be presented later to the Palestinian Council of Ministers."

01 Nov 2022; MEMO: The President of Algeria has condemned the "suspicious" campaigns against Qatar in the run-up to the Gulf state hosting the FIFA World Cup later this month, Al Quds Al Arabi has reported. In an interview with Qatar News Agency, Abdelmadjid Tebboune also affirmed that the Arab League summit, hosted by Algeria, will be a new start for joint Arab action.

01 Nov 2022; MEMO: Almost 1,200 attacks were carried out against Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces and Israeli settlers across the occupied West Bank in October, a report by the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority has revealed.

01 Nov 2022; MEMO: A gleaming white World Cup stadium looms large at the end of the street in the quiet suburban neighbourhood of Al Thumama, Reuters reports.

In three weeks, tens of thousands of soccer fans will file past the tidy villas, mosques and shops that line the route to the stadium due to host eight matches during the tournament.

01 Nov 2022; MEMO: Turkish official sources have denied reports that authorities arrested and detained 34 members of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement who called for protests in Egypt, alleging that the reports were an effort to distress Brotherhood leaders residing in Turkiye.

01 Nov 2022; MEMO: Some pub owners in Germany will not be showing matches of the upcoming Qatar World Cup, saying they took the decision from "an ethical standpoint" given the Gulf State's record on human rights Reuters reports.

Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup, has come under intense international pressure for its treatment of foreign workers and restrictive social laws.

01 Nov 2022; MEMO: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the long-anticipated, massive manufacturing plant that will be building Turkiye's first domestic car brand, TOGG.

On the occasion of the 99th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, Erdogan joined the opening ceremony of Turkiye's first domestic car plant in the north-western province of Bursa.

01 Nov 2022; MEMO: Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, on Tuesday called on Lebanese politicians to reach a consensus on electing a new president, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, left office on Monday after his six-year term expired, with lawmakers failing to agree on a new president.

Aboul Gheit met Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, in Algeria on the sidelines of the 31st Arab Summit.

RAMALLAH, Nov 1 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, yesterday called for stopping and destroying Israel’s nuclear programmes, to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone.

Al-Maliki made the appeal, in response to the adoption by the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, of a resolution submitted by Egypt, urging Israel to get rid of its nuclear weapons.

DUBAI, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Iranian university students pressed ahead with sit-down strikes on Tuesday in support of some of the biggest protests since the 1979 revolution, ignoring harsh warnings by elite security forces and a bloody crackdown.

The Islamic Republic has faced sustained anti-government demonstrations since Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the morality police seven weeks ago after she was arrested for wearing clothes deemed "inappropriate".